


Do You Remember What it Felt Like?

by Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28915308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis/pseuds/Apathetic_Abstract_Apotheosis
Summary: Pyrrha didn't know what to expect after she was brought back to life, but it certainly wasn't having to share a room with a chipper robot. Oddly, however, Penny might just be the person she needs in her life right now to help her acclimatise to this second chance at life.
Relationships: Pyrrha Nikos/Penny Polendina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

“Do you believe in destiny?”

“Yes.”

Searing pain lanced through Pyrrha’s chest and a hand pressed itself against her head as she tried not to scream in agony. It burned, oh how it burned. It was agony and-

Pyrrha shot up in her bed, gasping and clutching at her chest frantically for the arrow that had impaled her heart. It took several long moments for her panic to subside and for her breathing to return to normal.

She’d been plagued by these nightmares ever since she’d woken up in that lab a few weeks ago. General Ironwood refused to tell her much about why he’d brought her back, only enigmatic statements about the Maidens and knowing death, as well as asking countless questions about the woman who’d ended her life.

Pyrrha shuddered. She wished she could forget the experience that haunted her dreams, but it seemed she was unable. Idly tracing her hand over the spot where she’d been impaled, Pyrrha swung her legs out of bed and got up. She knew from experience that she wasn’t going to get to sleep again, so she might as well do something productive.

Just as she was about to leave the room, however, a small voice called out to her. “Pyrrha? Why are you awake?” She froze in her steps and slowly turned to look at the room’s other occupant.

Pyrrha had been rather reticent to share a room with the girl she’d accidentally destroyed. In fact, when she’d been reintroduced to Penny, she hadn’t reacted well at all.

“It’s nothing, Penny, just go back to sleep.” Pyrrha told her roommate, ready to try to leave the room once more.

“Did you have another nightmare?” Pyrrha paused once more, her shoulders tensing.

“How do you know?”

“You talk in your sleep sometimes.” Turning around again, Pyrrha watched as Penny got out of her bed, twisting her hands nervously. “Sometimes you scream as well, and I don’t know if I should wake you up or not.”

“Oh...” Pyrrha shifted uncomfortably on the spot, unsure of how to respond.

“Is it anything I can help with?” Penny cocked her head, her eyes glowing faintly in the darkness of the room.

“No, I’m fine.” Pyrrha lied, trying to think of how she could escape the awkward conversation. “Just want to get some air.”

“Oh. Perhaps I could come with you?” Penny offered, smiling guilessly. “I love the night sky.”

“... Sure.” Pyrrha was unable to come up with a good enough reason for Penny not to join her so she reluctantly led the way out of their shared room. Together they made their way along the silent sterile corridors of the military complex. For some reason, Pyrrha had been kept down in the depths of the base, and when asked, General Ironwood had only said that it was for security purposes.

Technically, she wasn’t allowed outside, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her. Pyrrha intended to head up to the surface, but was stopped by Penny, who pulled her away down a different corridor.

“There’s a balcony this way, no need to head upstairs.” She explained, pulling Pyrrha along behind her. In short order, they emerged from a door onto a small balcony. The view wasn’t amazing, but the chill night air did wonders for Pyrrha, who stood and breathed in and out slowly.

“Are you feeling better?” Penny asked innocently, joining Pyrrha by the railing and looking out over the city of Mantle.

“I am, thank you.” Pyrrha glanced over at the robotic girl and wondered how she could be so calm, sharing space with the person who killed her. In fact, how was Penny so calm after dying? Did she not remember what it felt like? Did it not haunt her dreams like it did her own?

“Penny, your brain is a computer, right?”

“In essence. Why?” Penny cocked her head curiously at the out of nowhere question.

“So you can perfectly recall everything that’s ever happened to you?” Pyrrha turned away from the view to look at Penny who leaned up against the railing and looked at her in confusion.

“I suppose, unless it was removed from my memory banks somehow.”

“... Can you remember what it felt like, that day?” Pyrrha’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. “What it felt like to die?”

“... I do.” Penny’s hand drifted down her torso. Pyrrha knew it was an entirely new body, not the one she’d inadvertently bisected, but maybe robots felt phantom pain too. “I still remember how it felt, each of my systems going into catastrophic failure and shutting down one by one.”

Pyrrha felt awful for bringing it up, but she pressed on. “Why would you want to remember?” She focused on the eyes only a few shades different to her own. “If you could just remove the memories, then why don’t you?”

Penny didn’t answer immediately, her gaze met Pyrrha’s own unblinkingly. “Because I don’t want to forget, and because you can’t.” Pyrrha blinked in shock and Penny continued. “That’s what your nightmares are about, isn’t it? Dying.”

Pyrrha nodded silently, the phantom pain of her chest wound burning. Unconsciously, she reached up and ran a hand over the smooth skin there, where the horrific scar of her injury should be.

“What do I have to do with it?” She asked, quickly lowering her hand as she realised what she was doing.

“I figured you might like to have someone who can relate.” Penny shrugged. “I know I would have loved to have a friend who understood what it was like not to be a real girl.”

“But I’m the person who killed you.” For some reason Pyrrha felt as though she was grasping at straws with her arguments. “It’s my fault. Why would you want to not just remember that, but remember it for my benefit?”

“Because it felt like the right thing to do.” Penny shrugged. “You can’t forget, so if I remember, then maybe I can help you.” 

Pyrrha wasn’t sure how to respond to this. All she could really do was look incredulously at Penny. She was so used to being the one to put herself on the line for everyone else, she was stunned that someone would do the same for her.

“Thank you, Penny.” Pyrrha eventually said, earning a small smile from Penny.

“You’re welcome.” She chirped, before examining Pyrrha closely. “You look cold, we should probably go inside.” Pyrrha was feeling a little chilly, though there was an odd warmth in her chest that was nothing like the phantom pain she normally felt.

Accepting Penny’s hand, Pyrrha allowed herself to be led back into the base and didn’t even think to question it when she was pulled into the same bed as the robot. Instead she curled up against her bedmate and soon drifted off into her first dreamless sleep in a long time.

* * *

When Pyrrha woke up the next morning, it took her a few moments to work out both why she wasn’t sweating and panicking, as well as what the warmth pressed up against her back was. Slowly, the events of last night filtered back to her, and she blushed heavily as she tried to slip out of Penny’s grasp.

Unfortunately for her, the robot girl held fast, and her attempts to shuffle out pulled Penny from her sleep cycle. Pyrrha envied Penny’s ability to go from asleep to alert within a couple of seconds, though in this case, she might have preferred it if Penny wasn’t quite so quick to awareness, as it might have afforded her a few seconds in which to escape the bed.

“Good Morning, Pyrrha. Did you sleep well?” Penny asked, apparently oblivious to the connotations of the position they were in.

“I slept fine, thank you.” Pyrrha just about managed to squeak out. “Um, do you think you could let me get up, please?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Penny immediately released Pyrrha and she nearly threw herself out of the bed now that she was free. “I should probably get up as well. Lots to do!” Still oblivious to Pyrrha’s mild panic, Penny skipped her way over to the wardrobe to retrieve her clothes. Pyrrha simply stood and watched as Penny took her clothes into the attached bathroom.

It took another few minutes for Pyrrha to reboot after that, and she quickly grabbed her things and fled the room. She could get changed in the locker rooms.

* * *

Given the rather restricted area where she was allowed to go, Pyrrha divided most of her days between the training room, the small room where she took her meals and her bedroom. Before last night, she hadn’t been outside in what had probably been weeks. Most of her time was spent training, getting back to where she was and beyond, now that her semblance refused to work.

At the top of the tower, fighting against that woman, she’d been running on pure adrenaline, so it hadn’t been a problem for her. Now, however, her semblance just didn’t work properly, or even at all. The so-called invincible girl was now mortal, and for all her dislike for the pedestal her abilities had put her upon, she missed the feeling of assuredness it gave her.

She’d avoided using it as much as possible, relying on her own talents to carry her and having it as her last resort. Knowing she no longer had that safety net was both terrifying and oddly encouraging. On the one hand, it didn’t help her feeling that death’s shadow still loomed over her and that any wrong move could be her last. On the other, it provided more than enough impetus for her to improve and ensure she wouldn’t be put in that position ever again.

On occasion she would train with the Ace Operatives, but most of the time, including now, she had to rely on the training robots. They hadn’t been able to retrieve her weapons from the ruins of Beacon, but the facsimiles were serviceable. With a few swipes of her sword, she decapitated the last few robots, leaving the bodies to crumple lifelessly to the floor.

Their lack of human characteristics didn’t help very much in stopping Pyrrha from being viscerally reminded of the arena and Penny. Shuddering, Pyrrha sheathed her sword and shield and was about to leave the room when the door opened and, of all people, Penny bounded in.

“Hello, friend Pyrrha! General Ironwood said that you were here!” She announced, not noticing how Pyrrha froze up for a second before moving over a little to obscure the disassembled robots behind her.

“Well, of course I am. Where else would I be?” Pyrrha answered with the barest hint of bitterness before plastering her wide smile back on her face. “Did you want something?”

“Oh, yes! I was wondering if you would like to do some sparring.” Penny offered with a bright smile. “I’m finished with my duties for the day.”

Pyrrha felt her stomach lurch at the idea of facing Penny in combat again. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Do you not feel up to further sparring?” Penny cocked her head curiously, eyes brimming with concern. “I thought you trained until 17:00. Are you unwell?”

“No, I’m fine.” Pyrrha replied quickly. “I just don’t really feel like any more training today. Thought I might go read a book or something.”

“Oh, okay, then.” Penny scuffed her shoe against the floor awkwardly. “Maybe I could come with you?”

“Reading isn’t exactly a group activity.” Pyrrha said kindly, but Penny’s suggestion did pique Pyrrha’s curiosity. “Why did you want to spar with me anyway?”

“I was hoping that maybe, after last night, you might want to spend some time with me.” Penny shrugged and she seemed to be blushing, something that was quite the surprise given her artificial nature. “I mean, I would like to spend more time with you.”

“Um, okay?” Pyrrha wasn’t quite sure how to deal with this information. She couldn’t really recall the two of them interacting very much outside of evenings when they returned to their shared room, and even then, Pyrrha had still felt supremely awkward and guilty about what she’d done to Penny, so conversation hadn’t exactly been free flowing.

“I’m not making things awkward, am I?” Penny asked, seeming to finally pick upon the odd mood in the room. “I am, aren’t I? I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not making things awkward.” Pyrrha reassured Penny quickly. “I’m still just a little confused about why you would want to spend time with me.”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re a great fighter and you’re really kind and super tall and you smell nice…” Penny started rambling in a way that seemed almost reminiscent of how Ruby would. “And your hair is really pretty too and you have a lovely smile and-.”

“Could you please stop?” Pyrrha interrupted, blushing furiously. She was starting to see where Penny’s aimless rambling was going and she was both flattered and slightly scared by the direction it had taken.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Penny apologised again, and Pyrrha had to wonder if this was what being friends with her had been like. Pyrrha wasn’t entirely sure where to go or how to respond to Penny’s effusive praise. Normally such rapturous compliments would have put her on the defensive, reminding her of the pedestal she was placed upon, but instead she found herself rather endeared by them and that she did, scared her.

“I-I find your company rather enjoyable as well, Penny.” Pyrrha not-quite lied. It seemed though that Penny was good at sniffing out half-truths as her face fell.

“You don’t have to say things like that just to make me feel better.” She said quietly. “I know you don’t feel comfortable around me. I don’t know what I did to upset you, but I’d really like to make it right and be able to help you, and to call you my friend.” Penny hung her head, and Pyrrha was sure if the robot could cry, then tears would be streaming down her face by now.

“At the risk of sounding cliche, it’s not you, it’s me.” Pyrrha said hesitantly, her hands twisting together. She’d never really felt like this before, so strange and mixed up inside. “If anything, you should be the one who feels awkward around me, since I…” Pyrrha couldn’t bring herself to say the words, her stomach was twisting too uncomfortably to finish the sentence.

“It wasn’t easy at first.” Penny admitted, her voice still hushed. “I tried to refuse to room with you, but my father insisted that I keep interacting with people my own age.” Pyrrha blinked in surprise, she hadn’t expected that, she’d thought that Penny had just always been welcoming. “I agreed to stay one night in the same room as you, and I was fully prepared to insist on moving out after that.”

“Then why did you stay?”

“You had a nightmare.” Penny said simply. “You were screaming and talking in your sleep, apologising over and over.” Pyrrha felt something inside her twist. She hadn’t known her nightmares had been that bad. “It helped me realise that you were just as badly affected by everything that had happened, and that maybe you needed me as much as my father thought I needed you.”

“Oh.” Yet again, Pyrrha found herself at a loss for words. She had no idea how to respond to this earnestness, but she was saved from having to formulate a response as Penny kept going.

“I actually really like spending time with you now, and I really like you too.” Penny was starting to blush now as well. Pyrrha could feel her heart starting to beat faster in anticipation “I wasn’t sure how to say this. I even considered trying to wait for the perfect moment to tell you. But after what happened to me in the arena, I realised that I shouldn’t delay saying things I want to. Not after I didn’t get to tell Ruby how I felt about her.”

Pyrrha was rather surprised by this piece of information. Penny had previously mentioned that she’d been good friends with Ruby, but she’d neer indicated that her feelings had run deeper than that, nor that she had feelings like that for her either.

It was both very confusing and concerning to Pyrrha, and it was quite frankly incredibly overwhelming. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” She rushed out, hurriedly pushing past Penny and fleeing the room. She needed space and she needed air. For a moment she considered breaking her isolation in the bowels of Atlas Academy, but changed her mind at the last moment, heading instead for the balcony she and Penny had gone out on last night.

She rested heavily on the railing, taking in the mid afternoon air as she tried to process the veritable deluge of information she’d had dropped upon her. It was just so much to take in, Penny had initially not liked her, and now she apparently had feelings for her. Pyrrha was used to people thinking that they loved her, though in truth they only loved a shadow. After what Penny had said about her, however, Pyrrha got the strange and distinct impression that Penny was interested in her because of her flaws, not in spite of them.

There was only one other person Pyrrha had ever gotten that impression from was Jaune. Dear Brothers, Jaune. It had been so long since she’d thought of him, not since she’d first come back and found out that he as well as the rest of her team were missing. Somehow even just acknowledging that Penny might have feelings for her felt like a betrayal of him. Even more of a betrayal was the small swelling in her chest now that she was thinking about Penny.

Penny, who had every reason to hate her, who could have saved herself the pain that memories brought her, yet still decided to stick with her.

Pyrrha was startled out of her thoughts by the door opening behind her. Spinning around, she saw Penny nervously edging out of the door hands clasped behind her back as it closed behind her.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said all those things.” Penny told Pyrrha in a shaking voice. “You can just forget everything I said.”

“But I don’t want to.” Pyrrha surprised even herself with her answer. “You’ve made me feel welcome here, sacrificed your own peace of mind for me. I… I don’t know how I feel about you, Penny, but I think I’d like to find out.” Penny’s eyes widened for a moment before she broke into a wide smile. Delicately, she reached out and took Pyrrha’s hand, which Pyrrha accepted with a small smile of her own, and perhaps for the first time since her resurrection, she felt a little bit hopeful for the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work was a request from a member of my discord server and was fun to write and work out the dynamics between two characters who don't have much interaction in canon save for... well you know. Anyway, they're sweet together and that's always fun to write.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being the bestest. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading and being so amazing.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Pyrrha awoke from another pleasantly dreamless sleep wrapped in Penny’s arms. Penny had assured her that it was purely platonic and practical, since Pyrrha’s sleep seemed to go undisturbed when she had someone else in bed with her. Pyrrha wasn’t entirely sure about it being completely platonic, but she didn’t mind one bit.

She did find it mildly amusing when Penny had insisted that she be the big spoon, despite being nearly half a foot shorter than her. Still, having the robotic girl wrapped around her from behind was very comforting.

Part of Pyrrha wished that she could stay like this for the rest of the day, but she and Penny had duties to attend to. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Pyrrha wasn’t going anywhere with Penny’s grip of iron around her waist.

Pyrrha considered waking Penny, but then thought better of it. She liked having the excuse that she couldn’t physically escape, it meant she didn’t have to think too hard about how much she didn’t want to.

Sadly, her attempt to return to the land of sleep was interrupted, and it wasn’t by Penny waking up.

“Penny, you were supposed to be on pat-.” The stern voice of Winter Schnee rang out in the room as the woman marched in and stopped dead as she saw the rather compromising position Penny and Pyrrha were in.

“Um, good morning, Specialist Schnee.” Pyrrha said as brightly as she could, very aware of how red her face was going.

“Miss Nikos.” Winter’s voice was stiffer than usual, and Pyrrha was painfully aware of how her eyes flitted over her and Penny’s intertwined bodies. “Could you perhaps assist me in waking Penny up. She’s late for her patrol.” Pyrrha nodded and started wiggling more energetically.

“Penny, you need to wake up.” Pyrrha said, unwilling to raise her voice above a loud whisper, despite trying to wake Penny up. After a few seconds of this, Penny’s grip shifted and Pyrrha heard the faint whine of her motors starting up.

“Winter! I’m sorry, I disabled my internal alarm last night.” Penny shot up, tumbling over Pyrrha in her haste to get up and stumbling out onto the floor.

“I can only imagine why...” Winter said sardonically, her steely gaze still fixed on Pyrrha.

“I shall be ready to depart on patrol momentarily.” Penny announced before vanishing into the bathroom. Pyrrha silently wished that she’d stayed, anything to act as a buffer between her and Weiss’ sister.

“So, I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical reason for you and Penny to be spooning in bed, right?” Winter asked. Her tone was cold and Pyrrha quailed a little under it.

“I don’t sleep well. Penny helps.” Pyrrha said, leaving out the bit about exactly why she slept so poorly. The only reason she’d confessed to Penny about her nightmares was because she’d already known about them. Pyrrha had enough issues with her phantom pains and her semblance acting up, she didn’t need people to know that she was even more broken than she let on.

“I see…” There was something doubtful in Winter’s voice, with a note of something that was approaching disapproval. Fortunately, Pyrrha was saved from further interrogation by Penny bounding back out of the bathroom fully clothed.

“I am combat ready, Winter!” She chirped, saluting her superior officer who sighed quietly. 

“I told you before, Penny, it’s Specialist Schnee when you’re on duty.”

“Right, of course. Sorry.” Penny lowered her hand and hung her head before perking right back up. “I’ll see you later, Pyrrha! I hope your training goes well!” With a beaming smile, Penny trotted out of the room, Winter following after, though not before shooting Pyrrha another icy look.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Pyrrha let out a loud sigh of relief before flopping back onto the bed. That was possibly the most mortifying experience she’d ever been through, including that time her mother caught her during her… private time.

She didn’t even know why she’d felt so embarrassed by the whole thing. It wasn’t as though she and Penny had been doing anything untoward. Just two not-quite-platonic-anymore friends sharing a bed.

Maybe it was because of this strange limbo state their tentative friendship had entered that had made it so awkward. She’d had several hours since she’d agreed to explore her feelings towards Penny, and they were no clearer now than they had been then.

She’d almost hoped that sharing a bed with Penny again would lead to a further breakthrough in understanding her feelings, but that hadn’t happened.

Sighing deeply, Pyrrha climbed out of bed and got dressed ready for another day of training. To anyone else, training all day every day probably would have been a nightmare, but she enjoyed it. Besides, it’s not like she’d done anything else before her untimely demise.

Collecting her weapons from her locker, Pyrrha headed out to her usual training room. Perhaps the adrenaline of combat would help clear her mind. When she got there, however, she was to find it wasn’t unoccupied.

“Morning, Pyrrha.” Marrow had always been the most personable of the Ace Operatives, especially compared to Harriet’s standoffishness and Vine’s aloofness. “Clover thought you might want a sparring buddy after that number you did on those training drones yesterday.”

Pyrrha blushed a little. She’d been more than a little careless yesterday during her training, she was normally a lot more restrained.

“I would appreciate the company.” Pyrrha acknowledged the offer with a small nod before drawing her weapons and throwing herself at Marrow. She’d been caught off guard before by that Cinder woman, she wasn’t going to again, and that meant striking the first blow even before they were ready.

What little she could recall of her final fight and final moments had taught her a lot about fighting outside of the controlled settings of tournaments. In the real world, people fought smart, and they fought dirty. She’d never thought she would stoop as low, but without her full strength, she needed every advantage she could get not to fall again.

Marrow, to his credit, reacted quickly to the surprise attack, drawing his weapon and deflecting her first few strikes. He was good, all of the Ace Ops were. All of them were a match for her, and dare she say it, better than she was.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t give them a run for their lien.

Pyrrha let herself go, letting her honed instincts take over, no longer rusty from whatever disuse death had subjected them to. The simplicity of combat left her mind free to wander and think about other more pressing things. Things such as her and Penny’s… She supposed relationship was the only term for it.

She was still more than a little confused about how Penny could hold feelings for her. She’d accepted early on that Penny was a real person, despite her artificial nature, and she elected to ignore the idea that her emotions were programmed into her. It was easier for everyone to just work on the assumption that Penny was self-aware and truly intelligent.

No, the confusing part for Pyrrha was that she held romantic feelings for her of all people. No matter what Penny said about Pyrrha needing her, she was still the person who ended her first existence. That alone should have been enough to turn Penny away for good, and that wasn’t even taking into account the myriad of traumas and problems she now had.

Before, she’d believed that nobody really could love her, not when she was always held up upon a pedestal and seen as perfect. Jaune had been the first person that had challenged that belief. Now, however, it was quite the opposite. She was unlovable now because she was too damaged and broken from her fall.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Marrow, who had finally managed to slip past her guard and hit her with a hard kick that sent her sprawling.

“You okay?” He asked in concern as Pyrrha gasped for breath as she staggered upright.

“I’m good.” She shook herself off, the jolt of pain from the hit already fading. “Aura took the hit anyway. Again.” Raising her shield, Pyrrha charged once again at Marrow, falling back into her training, each move practised again and again to perfection. She could have performed them in her sleep, but it wasn’t enough, it hadn’t been enough.

Pyrrha wasn’t sure how she felt about Penny, and that wasn’t even getting into what that meant about her previous feelings for Jaune. What she was sure of, however, was that she wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love, not at the moment, not until she was better again.

* * *

Winter Schnee hadn’t exactly been against the General’s idea of using the relic to resurrect Miss Nikos, but she had pointed out the many many flaws in his plan, not least of which being how Atlas was now completely reliant upon Dust to maintain its altitude.

With the staff’s new purpose being to bind Miss Nikos’ life to Remnant, it could no longer keep Atlas aloft. Winter hadn’t been sold on this investment into a girl who had failed to keep the full Maiden powers out of Cinder Fall’s hands, but it was the General’s orders, so she’d followed them.

The consequences of the girl’s resurrection had been many, most expected and accounted for, but this one had caught her very much by surprise. Despite her protests about the resurrection, she had been one of the proponents of having Penny room with Miss Nikos. She was well aware of the potential difficulties Penny might have with her arrangement, but Penny needed more than just stuffy superior officers as her companions, just as much as she had to learn that sometimes you had to work with people you disliked, though that clearly was not the case.

Once she’d seen Penny off on her patrol of Mantle, Winter had considered going to find Miss Nikos and thoroughly interrogate her on her intentions towards Penny. Unfortunately, she had her own duties to attend to, which prevented her from doing so.

Once her tasks were finished, she’d fully intended to follow through on her plans to track down Miss Nikos, but she was interrupted by the General.

“Schnee, I need you to do something for me.”

“Of course, sir.” Winter quickly ran through her mind of all the things the General could possibly need her personally to do.

“It’s been two months since Miss Nikos’ resurrection, and she seems to be adjusting well to her second chance.” The General started pacing behind his desk as he often did when he was mulling things over in his head. “I need you to subtly assess her mental stability and suitability to continue as a huntress and as a potential agent.”

“Potential agent, sir?” Winter tilted her head curiously. She wasn’t in the habit of questioning General Ironwood’s orders, but she definitely needed further clarification here.

“Ozpin saw something in her that he thought would make her a suitable Fall Maiden, and I am inclined to agree. It’s why we brought her back, after all. I need you to find out whether she is still suitable for the role.”

“Of course, sir.” Winter saluted again and turned to leave the office.

“You might want to talk to Penny as well, see what she thinks about Miss Nikos.” The General called out to her just before she left. “She should be back from her patrols soon.”

“Yes, sir.” Winter left the office and headed down to the landing pad. Hopefully she could intercept Penny before she could meet with her roommate so she could query her on her own.

She was in luck, as she only had to wait a few minutes before the characteristic green light trail of Penny’s rockets came into view and the robot herself landed with a clunk on the landing pad.

“Specialist Schnee, I wasn’t expecting to meet you here.” Penny tilted her head curiously.

“I wanted to talk to you, see how you’re doing.” Winter half-lied, feeling a small twinge of guilt at it. “I was hoping to also discuss what I found this morning.” She was surprised to learn that Penny was capable of blushing as she shrank down a little and kicked her foot against the floor, clearly embarrassed.

“You weren’t supposed to see that.” Penny mumbled, looking away shamefacedly.

“Oh, and why not?” Winter asked, folding her arms.

“Because we’re still working things out.” The younger girl admitted, looking anywhere but at Winter who sighed.

“Walk with me?” She didn’t wait for a response, instead heading back into the academy, expecting Penny to dutifully follow after. Winter didn’t speak again until she and Penny were safely in the lift, heading down into the restricted area where Miss Nikos resided.

“Are you and Miss Nikos not dating, then?” Winter asked, getting right to the point. She saw no reason to beat around the bush.

“I don’t think so?” Penny’s hands twisted uncomfortably in front of her. “I may have confessed to feeling attracted to her, but she didn’t know how she feels, but she agreed for us to explore our feelings together.”

This surprised Winter quite a lot. She’d honestly expected Pyrrha to have been the one to initiate things, especially given how Penny had met her end in the arena.

“Do you think there’s a reason for that?” Winter asked, trying to sound as caring as she could. She’d always regretted not being there enough for Weiss when they were younger.

“I don’t know, maybe there was someone else before. Pyrrha doesn’t really like talking about Beacon, or anything very much.” Penny sounded rather sad, and Winter reached out to pat her reassuringly on the shoulder. She wanted to assure Penny that things would be fine between her and Pyrrha, but she also had a job to do.

“Maybe she’s still feeling the effects of coming back?” Winter suggested, probing gently. “Has she said anything about that at all?”

“No…” Penny said, her face twisting uncomfortably before she hiccuped loudly, earning a raised eyebrow from Winter. “Not directly at least.”

“If she’s having problems, we can help her, we just need to know what’s wrong.” Winter felt another twist of guilt, but she pushed it back with all the other moments of guilt she’d felt in the course of her duties.

“... She has nightmares, frequent ones, at least once a night, about that day.” Penny said, looking just as guilty. “She only admitted to them after I confronted her about it.” Winter let out a deep sigh. That was not a particularly good sign of stability on Pyrrha’s part, nor was her refusal to inform anyone.

“I see. You think that might be contributing to her uncertainty?”

“Maybe?” Penny shrugged. “All I know is that sharing a bed with her helps with her nightmares, and if the extent of her feelings for me don’t extend beyond platonic, I’m more than happy to keep helping her like that.”

Winter smiled wanly at that. This was Penny to a tee, selfless to a fault and always willing to help others. The door to the lift finally opened onto the secure floor and the two walked out and towards the training room Pyrrha favoured.

Upon entering the room, they found Pyrrha engaged in a brutal bout with Marrow, blades flashing as she mercilessly bore down upon the hapless Faunus. Winter wondered how long they’d been at this, but knowing Pyrrha’s habits, she’d probably been training nonstop since she’d seen her this morning.

“Pyrrha!” Penny called out joyfully, her face lighting up at the sight of her roommate. This cry turned out to be a mistake, as it distracted Pyrrha enough for Marrow to get past her guard and fire a round directly into her chest. With a loud and panicked gasp, Penny shot over to Pyrrha’s doubled over form and immediately started fussing over her, making sure she was uninjured.

“Specialist Schnee, we weren’t expecting you.” Marrow stood up straight and snapped off a salute before hurrying over to Pyrrha as well. The redhead waved off her helpers and stood up, raising her weapons ready for another bout.

“Miss Nikos, a word, please.” Winter called out, interrupting her. “Marrow, Penny, take five.” Winter walked over to a corner of the room and waited for Pyrrha to join her.

“Yes, Specialist?” The young woman looked rather awkward and uncomfortable as she met Winter’s gaze evenly. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“A few things.” That was an understatement, Winter still wanted to know more about what she’d found this morning, but she pushed it aside in favour of the General’s orders. “I wanted to check up on you, see how you have been coping.”

“I’m doing fine.” Winter had to raise an eyebrow at that. She was used to winkling out lies from her siblings, Pyrrha was no exception. “Just training, getting back to where I was.”

“Really? It’s been a couple of months, Miss Nikos, surely you aren’t that out of practice.” Winter looked over the young woman with a critical eye. There was something different, something off about her compared to the young woman who’d made it to the finals of the Vytal tournament, and it wasn’t the different clothes and weapons.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Winter asked quietly, trying to use the same tone she used with Penny, trying to gently encourage the young woman to open up.

“... My semblance, it doesn’t work anymore.” Pyrrha confessed, looking away. “I don’t know why, if it’s a mental block or something. It’s just not working. I won’t be back to my full strength until I get my semblance working again or I can compensate for its absence.”

Winter nodded silently, making a note to inform the General. She didn’t like breaking the confidence of the young woman, but Winter was sure it was for the best. There was no way Pyrrha was ready for active duty, not in her current state.

“Thank you for telling me, Miss Nikos, I won’t delay you any more.” Pyrrha nodded and walked back to the centre of the room, calling for Marrow as she went. Winter couldn’t help but watch the young woman with pity. To have died so young and be shouldered with those doubts. Hopefully Penny was right about being able to help her. The girl deserved far better than what she’d been given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've got a bit of a continuation to this one and we're introducing big sis Winter, which I love and need more of her being a big sis to Penny and others. Poor Pyrrha, dealing with big self-esteem issues and the trauma of getting killed, as one might expect. Ironwood seems to have some ominous plans for Pyrrha though and is probably not letting on to Winter.
> 
> I've set up a [discord](https://discord.gg/4t3y25e) so feel free to join and stuff, I'm pretty active there these days.
> 
> Big thanks to [machiavellianFictionist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/machiavellianFictionist) for proofreading and being so good at this. Lots of thanks too to my lovely girlfriend [Ruby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyAndNanaAO3) for beta reading.
> 
> Thank you too to my official supporters, send a PM or hop on the discord server for details.


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